Preparation for an ice emergency

Posted Feb 2, 2012 By Michael J Brethour

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EMC News -Belleville - "This is a perfect day for a swim."

That was the attitude for Belleville firefighters as they gazed across the ice formations at the foot of the Norris Whitney Bridge in Belleville, a frigid wind whipped across open water and ice alike.

The remark was echoed jokingly by a number of the firefighters gathered, as most eyed the icy waters with varying degrees of anticipation and wariness.

With just under a dozen firefighters gathered there was no real emergency, nor a polar bear dip, rather, it was a training exercise preparing for ice rescues which the department could be called in to perform during the colder months.

The exercises were part of the firefighters' water and ice training, the week was the ice element of the training. During the spring months in 2011, the department engaged in swift water training on the Moira River.

Mark MacDonald, deputy fire chief of the Belleville Fire Department and a trainer for the exercises, said the exercise is ideal training for real life situations.

"This is part of our component for the Ice and Water Rescue Training," he said. "This gives them practice in a controlled environment to build the skills to be able to perform these rescues in the worst of situations," he said.

The exercises involved actually falling through the ice and performing a "self rescue."

It represents a scary real-life situation, but the training does involve having some fun. While one firefighter plays the victim, others complete the mock rescue.

Many times joking comments would be called across the water as the burly firefighters attempted to play a victim.

"With conditions like they are this year, we've had a lot of snowmobile accidents and what not, and the ice conditions and temperatures being what they are, this year we feel it is important to get out and practise. You never know when we might get called out to an unfortunate incident," said MacDonald.

He said the experience is essential to a safe operation, because without that experience the rescuer could possibly become another victim needing to be rescued. He said safe procedure and knowing what to expect is essential to success.

"They have to have proper skills to be able

to not only rescue other people but themselves should conditions with the ice deteriorate dramatically," explained MacDonald.

With open patches of ice underneath the Norris Whitney Bridge, MacDonald noted the conditions were ideal for realistic training without presenting a great amount of danger.

"We never call ice safe. We just refer to it in various degrees of instability," he said.

The training was comprised of four sessions, for all four crews in the urban core of the department which resulted in about 45firefi ghters participating in the training over a number of weeks.

Don Carter, an ice water trainer and veteran firefighter of twelve years with the Belleville force, said ice water immersion runs under a 1/10/1 rule.

"If you fall through the ice you have one minute to get your breathing under control, that's when people start gasping and also when the most water is ingested. After that you have ten minutes of usable movement to get back to shore or somewhere safe," he said. "Then you have an hour, due to the cold water, before you fall into unconsciousness."

He cautioned that swimming does not generate heat, rather it expends heat quickly.

"Unless you're close to shore you're better off waiting for us to rescue you," he said.

But MacDonald cautioned that without a personal floatation device, falling through the ice will result in the person succumbing within minutes.

"If you have a pfd you can keep yourself afloat long enough for us to get to you. Without a pfd you will die from drowning and not from hypothermia," he added.

The firefighters concluded their almost two-hour training with a quick icy swim in the open water of the bay.







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